Knowing your subject As with any subject you are preparing to teach, a good knowledge of the issues and facts is invaluable to a teacher. Knowing your subject, doing the ground work in reading the research and information available will allow you to guide your pupils through their inquiry learning. This wiki is providing you with research and information from New Zealand and overseas. It also provides links to that research, and a full list of teacher resources. We encourage you to take the time to read through some of the available literature, so you feel comfortable and familiar with the topic.
Show some Sensitivity The subject of food preferences and healthy eating can be a controversial one. It must be approached in a tactful and thoughtful way, to ensure that families feel part of the topic, not criticized by it. Highlighting the growing obesity problem as a societal issue may be one approach to take. Getting the schools Health Nurse involved, as part of an information evening, or just with providing facts and advice may be a good start. As a lead in activity, the class might research on line, and find out about the actual changes in our societies health and weight over the last ten to twenty year. They could brainstorm reasons for this change. By giving the students some information about the scale of the problem, it may capture their interest, which, in turn, may lead to interest from home.
Consider your individual students One area where the teacher must show real tact and diplomacy, is if there is a student within the class that has a weight or obesity problem. Extra sensitivity will need to be shown. A private discussion with the student and their family might be helpful, to gauge their awareness and concern over the topic. Parents and caregivers will need to be reassured that their own personal buying habits will not be under scrutiny, buy rather society as a whole. When packaging that has been brought from home is looked at, it might be a good idea for it to be placed in a large container first, so as to maintain the anonymity of the supplier. By mentioning healthy eating, most parents will immediately engage with the topic. We all want our children to be fit and healthy, and one way to ensure buy in from parents may be to let them know that this topic will hopefully encourage their children to make better choices about the food they eat. Most parents are looking for help in encouraging good eating habits in their children, and by keeping parents informed, and inviting them to participate in the topic you can reassure them that this is not an exercise in judging their families eating habits.
Getting in Touch A parent/caregiver evening is one way of explaining the topic to families, as well as answering any questions they may have. It may also be a way of encouraging support from outside the classroom. You may have parents or family members who work in the food industry, advertising industry, or producing food product to sell. Another way to begin is with a letter home. See below for a simple example.
Dear Parents and Caregivers, As part of our Healthy Eating promotion, we are beginning a unit of work looking at how the branding of food targets our children. We will be undertaking a variety of activities including a trip to the local supermarket, and the growers market. We will also be asking the children to spend some time monitoring the advertising on television during children’s programmes, and to look at the packaging of some of the items in their home. If you have any concerns or questions about any of the activities, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at school. In addition we would love to hear from you if you have experience or know of contacts in the marketing / advertising or food that would be happy to share their expertise or provide a visit for us. Kind regards
Outside Support for Teaching of Topic (Do you have any members of your school family in any of these roles? They would be a good place to start.) Health Nurse - Discuss the upcoming topic with your school's nurse. He or she may be able to provide resources, or may be willing to come and speak to the class about diet and nutrition. Local Supermarket- Approach the local supermarket. Try to find one where most of the school families shop, much easier in a small town. Ask if they would be open to pupils looking at the layout, placement of brands, overall feel and running of the supermarket. Farmers Market- If available, try to arrange a visit, or encourage the students to visit the market in their own time. Most have an organiser, who may be willing to answer questions and offer information. Local Cafe- Choose a local cafe (not in their busy time) and ask if they would be willing to discuss the sourcing of their products. Perhaps where the cafe promotes healthy cuisine, students could offer to provide suitable advertising. Fruit Shop- As with the cafe, visit your local shop with questions about product sourcing. This may be a person who has relevant information about sprays and chemicals used on fruit and vegetables.
It may be worthwhile to have the students write a letter of introduction, one that outlines the topic of study, and the questions the students are interested in. If it is on school letterhead, it will lend an air of formality that some businesses may appreciate. If possible, arrange for a meeting time that suits the person or business. There the pupils will be able to outline what information they are after, and gauge the support available.
Knowing your subject
As with any subject you are preparing to teach, a good knowledge of the issues and facts is invaluable to a teacher. Knowing your subject, doing the ground work in reading the research and information available will allow you to guide your pupils through their inquiry learning. This wiki is providing you with research and information from New Zealand and overseas. It also provides links to that research, and a full list of teacher resources. We encourage you to take the time to read through some of the available literature, so you feel comfortable and familiar with the topic.
Show some Sensitivity
The subject of food preferences and healthy eating can be a controversial one. It must be approached in a tactful and thoughtful way, to ensure that families feel part of the topic, not criticized by it. Highlighting the growing obesity problem as a societal issue may be one approach to take. Getting the schools Health Nurse involved, as part of an information evening, or just with providing facts and advice may be a good start. As a lead in activity, the class might research on line, and find out about the actual changes in our societies health and weight over the last ten to twenty year. They could brainstorm reasons for this change. By giving the students some information about the scale of the problem, it may capture their interest, which, in turn, may lead to interest from home.
Consider your individual students
One area where the teacher must show real tact and diplomacy, is if there is a student within the class that has a weight or obesity problem. Extra sensitivity will need to be shown. A private discussion with the student and their family might be helpful, to gauge their awareness and concern over the topic.
Parents and caregivers will need to be reassured that their own personal buying habits will not be under scrutiny, buy rather society as a whole.
When packaging that has been brought from home is looked at, it might be a good idea for it to be placed in a large container first, so as to maintain the anonymity of the supplier.
By mentioning healthy eating, most parents will immediately engage with the topic. We all want our children to be fit and healthy, and one way to ensure buy in from parents may be to let them know that this topic will hopefully encourage their children to make better choices about the food they eat. Most parents are looking for help in encouraging good eating habits in their children, and by keeping parents informed, and inviting them to participate in the topic you can reassure them that this is not an exercise in judging their families eating habits.
Getting in Touch
A parent/caregiver evening is one way of explaining the topic to families, as well as answering any questions they may have. It may also be a way of encouraging support from outside the classroom. You may have parents or family members who work in the food industry, advertising industry, or producing food product to sell. Another way to begin is with a letter home. See below for a simple example.
As part of our Healthy Eating promotion, we are beginning a unit of work looking at how the branding of food targets our children. We will be undertaking a variety of activities including a trip to the local supermarket, and the growers market. We will also be asking the children to spend some time monitoring the advertising on television during children’s programmes, and to look at the packaging of some of the items in their home. If you have any concerns or questions about any of the activities, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at school. In addition we would love to hear from you if you have experience or know of contacts in the marketing / advertising or food that would be happy to share their expertise or provide a visit for us.
Kind regards
Outside Support for Teaching of Topic
(Do you have any members of your school family in any of these roles? They would be a good place to start.)
Health Nurse - Discuss the upcoming topic with your school's nurse. He or she may be able to provide resources, or may be willing to come and speak to the class about diet and nutrition.
Local Supermarket- Approach the local supermarket. Try to find one where most of the school families shop, much easier in a small town. Ask if they would be open to pupils looking at the layout, placement of brands, overall feel and running of the supermarket.
Farmers Market- If available, try to arrange a visit, or encourage the students to visit the market in their own time. Most have an organiser, who may be willing to answer questions and offer information.
Local Cafe- Choose a local cafe (not in their busy time) and ask if they would be willing to discuss the sourcing of their products. Perhaps where the cafe promotes healthy cuisine, students could offer to provide suitable advertising.
Fruit Shop- As with the cafe, visit your local shop with questions about product sourcing. This may be a person who has relevant information about sprays and chemicals used on fruit and vegetables.